Translating Popular Film

Linguistica Antverpiensia New Series, 2005

Conceived from the start as a cultural form with mass, international appeal, cinema bears a fascinating relationship to translation, both real and figurative. From the days of the silents and early talkies to contemporary new Hollywood, this paper explores the nature of this relationship through reference to Lost in Translation and the wider polyglot genre. Revelling in the comic and poetic potential of inter-cultural (mis)communication, Lost in Translation (2004) directs attention towards the messy and mundane realities of translation, thereby exposing the industry's more usual predilection to ignore or disavow the complexities of language difference. Comparing Lost in Translation to cinematic predecessors such as Le Mépris / Contempt (1963) and 1930s polyglots, this discussion seeks primarily to challenge the myth that the language of cinema is universal.

Aesthetic Investigations , 2020

This essay explains Ordinary Language Philosophy (OLP), because it is relatively unfamiliar to those working in the field of Film-Philosophy, and proposes it as beneficial to film study. OLP provides us with a method of philosophising in relation to films that (1) is not theoretical, paradigmatic or thematic, and is therefore potentially unrestrained because it is not a priori or determining; that (2) is context sensitive, proceeding on a case-by-case basis, while also capable of synoptic overview (through connective analysis); that (3) encourages conceptual clarification and responsive articulation in order to present a perspicuous picture of individual films and our experience of them; and that (4) can act therapeutically by uncoupling us from unhelpful linguistic attachments that may restrict, helping us to see anew.

Today’s world map is being constantly retraced as many cultures are dispersed or are being displaced or transferred from one region to another. This new experience of populations’ movement, increased by globalisation, has become one of the most significant and traumatic occurrences of the 21st century. This is undoubtedly the era of refugees, people in motion, and mass migration. More and more people seem to be crossing borders and turning their experiences into a powerful legacy of resistance, endurance, and self-knowledge. And the media are witnessing this phenomenon. New impressions and views are formed with the rising and falling of barriers, walls and customs. New geographies and languages are imposed on an entire set of ancient cultures and nations. Many artists are transforming the trauma of displacement into a major renewal of thought and reflection on contemporary society. How should one approach cinema‘s realities and subjectivities in light of these new frontiers? Filmmakers are favouring artistic proposals and film productions with cross-national perspectives and themes that converge and bring together people and audiences from different cultural backgrounds and numerous ethnic origins. Not only do such films narrate and translate an exilic experience, they also conceptualize an intercultural process that needs to communicate globally to a varied multicultural audience. As a global commodity, how will cinema reunite or embody all those subjectivities and realities? Thus, these productions also require a procedure of self- translation in order to express a multiplicity of languages, aesthetics, and memorial-spaces.

1993

L'objectiu d'aquest article es esbrinar per que els titols originals de les pel·licules no son traduits literalment al catala o al castella. Per tal d'acomplir el nostre proposit hem recollit tres-cents titols de pel·licules i hem provat de classificar-los segons el criteris seguits en la seva traduccio. Primer de tot, hem observat un grup de titols que restaven intraduits, es a dir, es mantenia l'original en angles. Dins aquest grup hem distingit entre aquells titols que consistien en un nom propi i aquells que no. En segon lloc, hem analitzat un grup de titols que havien estat traduits de manera lliure. Hem intentat descobrir les causes d'aquestes traduccions lliures i hem trobat que es podien resumir en quatre punts: dificultats linguistiques, interessos comercials, diferencies socio-culturals i, per ultim, les possibles intencions moralitzadores per part d'alguns traductors. A mes, hem afegit uns comentaris sobre la politica que es segueix a Catalunya en ...

This article examines the role of audiovisual translation in the cinematic circulation of trans knowledge. Through a case study of the Cantonese-dubbed version of the Thai-language film The Iron Ladies in Hong Kong, the article analyzes a regional production of trans meanings that negotiates between local subjectivities and globalized categories. The article also demonstrates the importance of a multilingual approach to the study of trans cinema.

The revolutionary development of the digital world has changed our ways of communication, so that verbal texts are understood to be ontologically differ-ent from multimedial texts; however, translation studies scholars still remain overwhelmingly obsessed with the elements of language transfer, even though the translation theorist Roman Jakobson coined the term “intersemiotic transla-tion” as early as 1959, long before global communication became electronically facilitated. The pervasive and easy access to a large quantity of images as well as the processes of YouTubalization now finally receive attention from scholars of translation studies and semiotics—among them Dinda. L. Gorlée, Susan Petrilli, Gideon Toury, Şebnem Susam-Sarajeva, Peeter Torop, Ubaldo Stecconi and others, who are concerned about the development of a relatively new methodology and epistemology for intersemiotic translation, which has created repercussions for our understanding of adaptations. The aforementioned au-thors’ findings highlight three major concerns in this paper. It will be first of its kind to examine how film adaptation can be seen as intersemiotic translation, based upon the Peircean triadic theory of “semiotranslation” (to borrow Gorlée’s term), where objects, signs, and interpretants interact with one another forming an unlimited dissemination of signs. Second, translation theorists, particularly those of the poststructuralist strain, play a role in unraveling the mystery of language, by virtue of which they contribute in a compelling way to the theorization of adaptation; theories such as Benjamin’s pure language, Blanchot’s superior and ultimate language, Derrida’s true language will all be analyzed to echo the concept of “growth” in intersemiotic translation. Third, with reference to Juri Lotman’s notion of semiosphere—a sphere which is prior to language, “in constant interaction with lan-guage” makes communication and language possible—the paper analyzes the interpretants, including the cross-cultural dialogues, using Ang Lee’s film adaptation of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as a concrete example to serve as an illustration: from its novel to screenplay, and to iconic representation. In so doing, the paper hopes to of-fer a new perspective on translational semiosis, providing its readers with an in-depth understanding of multimedial texts. Keywords: translation studies, intersemiotic translation, film adaptation, post-structuralist translation theory, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

2025

This study examines the relationship between cinema, translation, and intercultural communication. It explores how cinema acts as a medium for cultural exchange, fostering understanding across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Through audiovisual translation, particularly subtitling and dubbing, films become accessible to global audiences, bridging diverse cultural identities. The paper reviews the evolution of translation theories, from literal approaches to intercultural methods. It highlights the challenges of conveying cultural expressions and nuances in subtitles, emphasizing the translator's role as both a linguistic and cultural mediator. The study advocates for intercultural competence in translation to improve dialogue and reduce cultural misunderstandings in an increasingly globalized world.

2018

This paper aims to describe the translation strategies used in translating cultural words found in the subtitle of Godfather Movies (I and II). Godfather is one of best of all time movies America has ever had. It contains a lot of cultural words worth to notice. Since subtitle is limited both in term of duration and space, it is interesting to find out how the cultural words are translated to be displayed in the subtitle. The researcher gathered the data by watching the movie, spotting the cultural words, and then writing the translation displayed in the subtitle. Using qualitative approach and through comparative method the researcher analyzed the data. The result of this study shows that the subtitler used five procedures in translating cultural words: naturalization, transference, functional equivalence, cultural equivalence, and modulation. The frequently used procedure among them is transference. This research also investigates the parameters influencing the subtitler’s decisio...

2022

Translation from one language to another is as much a compromise between two lexicons as it is a negotiation between two cultures. Translating culture is no easy feat, but when this is done in the context of film, and the constraints of subtitling come into play, the difficulty of the process is exacerbated. This article analyzes the strategies which have been utilized to translate into English the French culture-specific terms in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's French romantic comedy Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain. In so doing, the study seeks to ascertain how foreign culture is represented in the film and whether the English-subtitled version of the original diminishes the experience or whether it adds another dimension to it. To this end, the study relies on Jan Pedersen's taxonomy of ECR transfer strategies as well as his classification of cultural domains. It is found that the English subtitle version's main aim was to render the movie comprehensible to the Anglophone viewer and less so to reflect French culture, a job left mainly to the cinematography and the music of the film. The translator manages nevertheless to maintain a level of cultural authenticity by using a specific translation strategy. The result is one which allows the non-French speaking viewer not only to comprehend a relatively complex dialogue and plot, but also to experience the French cultural magic intended to be conveyed.